Wanted to address the @jduffyrice thread on the dangers of conflating #WhereAreTheChildren with #EndFamilySeparation. She makes some good points, but #WhereAretheChildren is absolutely a question we should be asking - for slightly different reasons
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) houses immigrant children because it ostensibly can protect their best interests better than ICE - which it often can’t because ICE’s interests dictate many of its policies. It should be a child welfare agency, not a jailer
Unaccompanied children (UCs) need continued support post-release, and in representing hundreds of UCs, I’ve seen dozens suffer abuse at the hands of their sponsors, even their own families. Because state child welfare agencies often won’t help older teens, they are on their own
Hey @jduffyrice - have you called ORR and begged them to take back your homeless, trafficked client only to be told it’s not their problem? Have you stood in the street at midnight screaming at a Child Protective Services social worker who refuses to help your 16 yr old client?
Those of us repping UCs know that transition age youth need the most support. They are most likely to be pressured by family to drop out of school and work. I WISH a social worker would check up on them post-release to provide extra support at this critical time
Obviously the relationship between ICE and ORR is crazy problematic. ICE has access to the kid’s entire ORR file, including medical and psychiatric records. I have had kids sent to lock-down facilities for what they told a therapist. Traumatized kids deserve better.
I don’t think the answer is to accept that the agency placing these kids bear no responsibility for what happens to them. The answer is to separate ICE and ORR so the latter can actually do its job. Not placing UCs in deportation proceedings at all would be a good start
Ideally, UCs could apply to legalize without having to go to immigration court at all. ORR or state agencies would provide continuing mental health care. Youth aging out of the system would not be transferred to ICE custody. We can do better but abandoning UCs is not the answer
#WhereAreTheChildren becomes relevant as we work to #EndFamilySeparation because separating families puts a huge strain on the ORR system. As we saw in 2014, this leads to issues that affect the welfare of children in/being released from ORR custody
In 2014, ORR warehoused kids on military bases and released them to unfit sponsors. CBP kept kids in glorified dog kennels on the border, sometimes for weeks, due to ORR capacity issues. We are already seeing some of these practices being revived and it’s unacceptable
We absolutely shouldn’t be advocating for ORR to find the ‘missing’ kids because ICE will likely just deport them. We should be advocating to #AbolishICE and provide holistic support to the children seeking safety here, whether alone or with a parent
